Sunday, April 29, 2012

Day 163: Optional

The beard is optional -- compulsively
Inspected, groomed, and borrowed from an up
-and-coming self and time. Impulsively, 
I fill in facial blanks, and drink and sup
On future foibles. Gaps between my face
And function manifest: a shaven past
Clear-cut from thirty-three; a shaven place
Unmoored from maps. My errand swept too fast
Through Spanish steps, past Grecian urns, away
From faces writ in water; so I'll shave
Another time, another place, a day 
Or two from where I'm headed. There's a grave
He meant to leave unmarked, to keep a bare
Appearance; so I'll pull what I can spare.

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